Release of offensive odorants from the combustion of barbecue charcoals

Abstract

A number of offensive odorants including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), reduced sulfur compounds (RSCs), carbonyls, and ammonia were measured along with several reference pollutants (like benzene (B), CS2, SO2, CO, and total hydrocarbon (THC)) from combusted fumes of barbecue charcoals produced from five different countries (Korea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the US). Although the emission concentrations of most odorants were generally below the reference guideline set by the malodor prevention law in Korea, the mean concentration of some aldehydes (acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and isovaleraldehyde) and ammonia exceeded those guidelines. As such, aldehydes were the most dominant odorant released from charcoal combustion followed by VOC and ammonia. If odorant levels of charcoal products are compared, there are great distinctions between the products of different countries. If comparison is made using the concept of the sum of odor intensity (SOI), the magnitude of SOI for the charcoal products from the five different countries varied in the order of 4.30 (Korea), 3.10 (Indonesia), 2.97 (China), 2.76 (Malaysia), and 2.76 (the US).